This background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
There are many situations in which a person may desire assistance from a distal source, but has very little time to do so. For example, a person may be in a potentially dangerous situation where the person would like to contact the police or other security personnel. Sometimes removing a cell phone from one's pocket or purse to dial 911 might be impractical, or even impossible. Or perhaps a person might have a medical emergency and be unable to dial emergency personnel, again because the phone might not be reachable, or possibly because the person has insufficient time, or is incapacitated for some reason.
Many devices have been created in order to quickly contact emergency personnel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,770 to Schlager et al, teaches a personal alarm system where a monitoring base station tracks remote sensing units similar to old Life Alert® monitoring systems. The base station can be configured to sense when the panic button is pressed, and could then summon help. Such a device, however, requires the user to remain in range of the monitoring system and wear a device, which is often unsightly, bulky, and has no utility beyond summoning help if the user is in a fight or flight situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,042,338 to Weber, teaches an emergency hailing device that periodically asks an at-risk user if the user is OK. If the at-risk user fails to respond to the automatic interrogation signal, the device automatically summons an emergency service or care provider. Weber, however, also requires a user to remain in range of a nearby receiver to process the signal and determine an alarm action. The device also has no utility beyond regularly checking on a user and summoning help if the user is in a dangerous situation.
Other co-owned patents, including for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,142,096 to Eisenman, U.S. Pat. No. 7,315,242 to Eisenman and U.S. Pat. No. 8,742,924 to Eiseman disclose a key FOB that unlocks a car and also has GPS and alarm capability to communicate with distal devices that are further than a localized base station. Subsequent applications within the family claim key-related devices having GPS and alarm capability include key chains, key bags, and also cover devices that gain access to spaces other than motor vehicles, including pending applications U.S. Ser. No. 12/173,630, U.S. Ser. No. 12/773,161, and U.S. Ser. No. 14/294,955. There are some situations, however, where a user might not have a key FOB for a car vehicle, such as when the user lives and works on a campus or the user lives within a city with adequate public transportation infrastructure.
US 2009/0159703 to Mullen teaches a credit card that tracks the location of a user, and can transmit an alarm to authorities when an emergency button on the card is depressed and the card is used (e.g. at an ATM or at a store). Mullen, however, requires the user to be at a swiping location in order to sound an alarm, which is not always the case when a card holder needs to summon help.
The Personal Management ID Card GPS Tracker sold by YuLongDa provides an identification card having a GPS function that allows for remote location tracking, as well as a SOS alarm feature that sends an SMS message to a designated cell phone number when a button is pressed or an ID card moves outside of a designated geofence area. However, the YuLongDa ID card fails to provide anything more than a single pre-set SOS message. Emergency nuances cannot be communicated, and so a receiver of an emergency alert has no idea whether the person in the emergency needs police, medical attention, or is merely lost.
Thus, there is still a need for casings or other holders that provide position identification, 2-way communication, and panic control features for emergency communication.